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Scarlet fever UK cases are eight times higher than the last big infectious season, official figures show.
This season (from 19 September to 8 January) there have been 37,068 notifications of scarlet fever – compared to a total of 4,490 at the same point in the year during the last comparably high season in 2017 to 2018.
Figures also show Invasive Group A Strep infections remain rare but are higher than seen in a typical year.
This season there have been 1,539 cases across all age groups, compared to 2,967 across the whole of the last comparably high season in 2017 to 2018.
Sadly, so far this season there have been 190 deaths across all age groups in England, including 30 children under 18 in England.
In the 2017 to 2018 season, there were 355 deaths in total across the season, including 27 deaths in children under 18.
What are the symptoms of scarlet fever?
According to the NHS, some of the first signs of scarlet fever can be similar to flu-like symptoms, including a high temperature, sore throat, and swollen neck glands.
But with scarlet fever, a rash will then appear within 12 to 48 hours of these first symptoms.
The NHS described this rash as “small, raised bumps”, which starts on the chest and tummy and then spread.
On pale skin, this rash will look pink or red, but it can be harder to spot on darker skin. However, it can still be spotted by feeling the skin, which will feel rough, like sandpaper.
Another symptom of scarlet fever is ‘strawberry tongue’; a white coating that appears on the tongue and peels, leaving the tongue red, swollen, and covered in bumps.
While the scarlet fever rash doesn’t spread to the face, the infection can make cheeks look red.
Source: The Mirror
